Leafs' Woll delivers 'big time' effort to beat McDavid, Oilers

The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 on Saturday at Rogers Place. The team is took the day off on Sunday in Calgary. 

After the final buzzer sounded ending a frantic but fruitless final push by the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night, Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner immediately went to goalie Jospeh Woll and yelled something. 

"Probably can't say it on camera," Marner quipped following the 4-3 victory. "Obviously, he played a hell of a game for us. He's done it all year round. He was very excited at that moment too, just like myself."

A sprawling Woll had just gloved a last-second shot by Oilers winger Corey Perry to seal the victory. 

"Both pretty pumped up," Woll said. "I do my best to stay even keeled during the game. And then when the game's over, it's emotional and it's awesome, right, like, when you get a big win. It was a playoff-style hockey game. A big, huge win for us."

The win snapped a three-game losing streak and kept Toronto within one point of the Florida Panthers in the race for top spot in the Atlantic Division. The Leafs have one game in hand. 

Woll made a season high 45 saves, including several big ones in the final minute. Craig Berube appreciated how the goalie battled. 

"With the way they play, they move the puck around and shoot a lot," the Leafs coach noted. "There are a lot of attempts coming at the net. He was fighting through traffic and fighting for the puck. He battled hard. He made some great saves from competing."

It was Woll's first ever game against the Oilers and Connor McDavid. 

"Just be aware," ex-Oiler Anthony Stolarz, now Woll's tandem-mate in Toronto, advised before the game. "He's probably the most talented player in the world so he's got a big bag of tricks."

McDavid scored a power-play goal against Stolarz in the first game between the teams back on Nov. 16 in Toronto, which also ended in a 4-3 Leafs win. But the Oilers captain could not beat Woll despite firing a season high nine shots on net. 

"You know before the game some tendencies and obviously he's a dangerous player whenever he's on the ice, him and [Leon] Draisaitl," Woll said. "So just do your best to stay ready and stay focused when they're out there."

Woll was a big reason why McDavid's six game point streak came to an end.

Draisaitl, who leads the NHL in goals, had what would've been his 37th tally wiped out by a successful offside challenge with just over two minutes left. He finished with six shots and one assist.  

"He was good," Draisaitl said of Woll. "We controlled most of the play. Obviously the shots will tell you the same and chances probably will as well." 

Per NaturalStatTrick.com, scoring chances favoured the Oilers 36-21 on Saturday in all situations (25-16 in 5-on-5 play). 

"We were all around it," said Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard, who was able to blast a shot past Woll in the second period. "He stood on his head and had a good game."

Woll has played 17 games since Stolarz got hurt on Dec. 12. Only Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck (18) has started more in this stretch. Questions about the workload have persisted as Woll's save percentage dipped below .900 in January. 

But with Stolarz now close to returning, the 26-year-old Woll made a big statement on Saturday. Winger Bobby McMann described the performance as "big time."

It certainly felt like a big-time game in part thanks to a rowdy crowd and electric atmosphere in the Alberta capital. 

"Honestly, what stood out was our fans," said Woll, who improved to 18-10-0 with a .909 save percentage this season. "Our fans were pretty loud, pretty on par with theirs. It was cool. I mean, regardless of who the fans were cheering for, I think it always ups the emotion and intensity of the game. And, yeah, it was a lot of fun."

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The Leafs built a 3-0 lead in the first period and led 4-1 in the first minute of the third period before hanging on for dear life. If there was just one more second left on the clock, Perry likely ties the game. 

"I knew I didn't have much time to get it off," the veteran winger said. "If I had an extra second I probably would have stepped around him. I would have taken one more step and shot it in the net, but I knew I didn't have that time."

It was one of many close calls for the Oilers in the last minute. At one point, Perry felt a puck had deflected in past Woll. 

"I put my hands up in the air, but it just slipped by," he said. 

"The heart rate was elevated on those," said McMann, who watched from the bench, "but trusting the guys and especially trusting Woller back there."

Bouchard hit the crossbar as part of Edmonton's final flurry. 

"I thought it was going in," he said glumly. "Obviously when you get a look like that with that much time left you got to find a way to put that in."

Leafs players were scrambling all over the defensive zone. 

"Just mayhem really," said Marner. "Just guys diving everywhere, trying to get in lanes, trying to block shots, trying to do the best we can to keep the puck out of the net."

"It was chaotic," said winger Matthew Knies. "It was hectic. Glad we sealed the deal there. I think Woller did an incredible job keeping that out of the net. And I think all the guys selling out, you know, just shows the determination in our room."

The Leafs blocked 24 shots on the night. 

It was a gutsy win, but Berube wasn't exactly thrilled afterwards. 

"We got the lead, and I thought we could've made a harder push," the coach said. "We let them come at us too much ... We did a lot of good things, but I think we could've been more aggressive with the lead. I am not critiquing wins — wins are wins, and they’re good — but we could've pushed a little bit more on them."

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Marner scored what ended up being the game-winning goal on the first shift of the third period. He took a back pass from Auston Matthews and somehow weaved past Zach Hyman, Bouchard, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Brett Kulak before sneaking the puck through goaltender Stuart Skinner. 

"It was crazy," McMann said. "He was going back and forth and back and forth. It was like the triple deke from Mighty Ducks."

Although the Charlie Conway triple-deke goal in the 1992 movie came on a penalty shot. Marner's move came with five opposition skaters on the ice. 

"Very difficult to defend," said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch. "They have a lot of speed going through the neutral zone ... and what I saw was just a few guys out of position by two, maybe three feet, and just out of reach of breaking up that play." 

"It was incredible," said Knies. "He juked three guys and found a way to put it in the back of the net. It was fun to watch."

Matthews picked up his 300th career assist. 

"There's a drop pass and any time there's a drop pass for the offensive side, when they're executed they're hard to defend," Knoblauch said, "when it's not then it's usually an odd-man rush going the other way." 

It was Marner's 70th point of the season in game No. 52. 

"Just saw time and space," Marner said. "Tried to make a move. Tried to just get to the net. Think it ricocheted back off and kind of hit my toe and went in. A little bit of luck there."

Also a product of hard work. 

"So no surprise on that one," Woll said with a grin. "I've seen that a couple of times and been on the wrong end of it ... Mitch is just so elusive. It feels like he can make a play at any point. Like, he's stick-handling and still feels like he can make a play amid all the chaos, so it's pretty cool."

Marner matched Matthews (2023-24 and 2021-22) as the fastest Leafs player to reach the 70-point mark in the past 30 years.

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The Leafs were forced to play most of the game without defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who sustained a lower-body injury in the first period. 

"I didn't even see it happen," Berube said. "He left the bench, and we were down to five. The trainer said he wasn't coming back."

Ekman-Larsson logged just five minutes and nine seconds. He's only missed one game so far this season.

"We have to evaluate him a little bit more," Berube said. "Right now, day-to-day."

The Leafs will return to practice on Monday before taking on the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night.  

Jake McCabe played a career high 30 minutes and 22 seconds on Saturday night while Chris Tanev came in at 26 minutes and 37 seconds. That duo saw a lot of McDavid and Draisaitl. 

"Our D did a really good job against them," Berube said.

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Special teams provided the Leafs a big edge on Saturday. 

Toronto's power play, which had gone 0/5 in the previous three games, struck on both their chances. 

"They executed really well," Berube praised. "They got on the inside. That is the bottom line. It is how you score goals."

Knies scored the first man-advantage marker by collecting the rebound off a Matthews shot and tucking the puck past Skinner. McMann scored in a similar fashion after a shot by Morgan Rielly yielded a rebound. 

"I thought we used the middle of the ice really well," Knies said. "We were shooting pucks and creating chaos around their net, you know, having their goalie scramble and not see pucks well. I think that's why we had so much success and scored those goals."

The return of Knies and John Tavares from injury made the top unit more dangerous. 

"Obviously on the power play, those two are big for us," Marner pointed out. "Just with how they distribute the puck and get in areas. And Kniesy's done an amazing job at that net front, just putting in second opportunities."

McMann was bumped back to the second unit on Saturday, which made that unit more dangerous as well. 

Toronto's penalty kill had allowed a goal in six of the previous seven games with the only clean sheet coming when the Leafs didn't take a penalty in a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. But on Saturday night, the Leafs were able to kill off both Oilers power plays.

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McMann's goal was extra special because he hails from nearby Wainwright, Alta. 

"It was really cool," he said. "Got a lot of friends and family and cousins and everyone in the stands watching, so that was a cool feeling. Grew up here, around here, watching the Oilers all the time, so that was sweet."

The Leafs landed on Thursday, which afforded the 28-year-old some extra time with loved ones. 

"It's so cool just to kind of pop back into summer life," he said. "Went over to my sister's house, had a home-cooked meal with my parents, and my grandma was there, and that was really nice."

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Leafs lines to start Saturday's game:

Knies - Matthews - Marner 
Pacioretty - Tavares - Nylander
McMann - Domi - Robertson 
Holmberg - Kampf - Lorentz

McCabe - Tanev 
Rielly - Ekman-Larsson 
Benoit - Timmins 

Woll 
Murray